Linzer Cookies and other tales

3.5 cups of butter later, I remembered why I only bake once a year. Luckily, I was determined and stubborn enough that I finished the cookies even though I was totally fed up with the process half way into the first batch. Pictures? Not so many. I was often too covered in flour and butter.

My proudest accomplishment of this round of baking was Strawberry Linzer cookies.  2 hours = 14 painstakingly made cookies. Based on this recipe. They really are good, and they really do take a while. And to get those shapes, the dough really does have to be *exactly* the right temperature or you get to start all over. Also? Please only try to do this if you have a normally sized kitchen.

I also made Ginger Spice Cookies – like gingerbread but more spice. I picked this recipe because it had the most spice of any recipe I found.  Ginger juice that I made from real ginger, molasses, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice and ground black pepper. YES. I may have added more spice than the recipe called for. I love my food to be flavorful! These are done (I made them into candy canes and tiny angels, stars, gingerbread men and trees) but need a bit of decoration still.

I also made these cookies from Epicurious. Except mine are Milk Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies. The original recipe wanted bittersweet and white chocolates. I thought it would be too much. I think I was right. I added extra cranberries too.  These are actually my favorite of the three cookies I made. Tasty, with a slight crunch and a soft middle, with plenty of tart and sweet flavor. YUM.

Let me tell you, though, that I don’t bake most of the time because:

1) Cookies make me feel guilty.  First I put in the butter. Then the sugar. Then the white flour. And I think … that’s it? I’m eating pure Bad For Me? I CANNOT DO THIS. And then I do. Because mmmm, cookies are tasty. I happen to really disagree with Kate Moss, who said recently, to my everlasting irritation and disgust, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” Quite too bad and sad for her! There’s a lot more to life than being skinny. I’ll eat her cookies too.

2) Baking pastries takes FOREVER. Preparation, refrigeration, cookie cutters, baking, cooling, decorating. Just be done already! Cooking is really way easier. Much more instant gratification. Much less exercise of my limited quantities of patience. Maybe it was just that I chose really difficult recipes?

3) I have to measure things. I am not the type of person who either follows directions or measures stuff. I “go with what feels right,” but this is not an acceptable way to do things when baking. Some people follow directions, follow patterns, follow instructions, follow rules, follow guidelines. I am definitely NOT one of those people.

And also. Let’s remember the Cardinal Rule of Cookie Baking Chez Miriam.

If you show up at my house and I offer you freshly-baked cookies, I have not magically turned into Super Housewife. Let’s just realize that this was one of those times my hyperness and OCD got the better of me. It’s Solstice-Chanukkah-Christmas. I’m allowed to be slightly crazy about something, right?

Be Right Back

Dear Interwebs,

If you will excuse me for an evening, Jeff and I are celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary today. Woo!

I have no real pearls o’ wisdom to dispense on the subject of relationships, except this.

After a while, whether you are married or not, in a committed relationship it ends up being as much about the life you build together as whatever romantic relationship started you off. Dogs, kids, trash pickup, fights, career changes, family excursions, budgeting, whatever else. All the mundane and the profound things. I’m lucky to have found someone to weather it with.

And he even puts up with my yarn and fabric lying around everywhere!

Kitchen With (Lots of) Stuff

I swear that you can cook in 4′ by 9′ of kitchen. Remember my plan? Here it is.

I do believe NO ONE has ever fit more kitchen stuff into a space this small ever before. Well, perhaps they have, but holy moly, there’s stuff in every square inch of this kitchen. You can’t even see the stuff under the sink. But everything is easily within reach while cooking. I’ve got spices and pans and spoons and bowls and everything. It’s truly excellent. I tried to make it look decent too.

I was cooking black bean tacos here. The main issue with this kitchen is not the space, actually, it’s that TERRIBLE STOVE. The top of it tends to slide around. You know, completely OFF. Which is not optimal when cooking. And three out of four of the burners won’t lie flat enough to cook on, even with water in the pan weighting it down. We’re discussing this with the landlord. A repairman came and took a look and said it looks like I need a new one. I agree.

Anyway, if you think I can’t cook a five-course dinner in here, you’re wrong. I would. Just for the challenge. To see if I could.

Here’s some more pictures. I was having fun taking them. By the way, if you’re reading this via email, you can’t see the slideshow via email, you’ll have to visit my website to see them.